The Imperial Shipyards
Imperial Creative Engineering => Custom Figures => Topic started by: XizorsVirago on August 17, 2009, 11:02:23 PM
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Okay, I've finally taken pictures of this custom... it's taken me a couple weeks (longer than I've ever bothered with one figure, haha), and here it is, my custom Guri figure! She's a repaint of the comic two-pack Leia (who came with Xizor), and would have totally been a better figure to pack in with Xizor, being his personal assistant assassin. I've sculpted the boot rims out of a sniper rifle strap, and made her skirt with cotton, hemmed around the edge, using a necklace clasp to hold it on. Let me know what you think, I'd love some input on this figure! I know I need to touch up some parts of the paint (stomach, freaking shoulders...), but I haven't been motivated enough to mix up the paints just for those little parts yet.
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Nice figure!
You should really touch up those spots as it will make the figure look really complete.
I like the soft goods skirt. Maybe you should try to find a more subtle clasp or try to paint it gold?
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Nice fig, Virago!
That skirt looks like it might have been a chore.
What kind of
Paint are you using?
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Looks good - and I agree Guri would have been the logical choice for that pack. Interesting approach on the skirt-clasp! I've been known to make jewelry and the approach you took has never occurred to me.
(I think he went with silver to match her silver headband)
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I think so, too.
My approach was to match the belt buckle...
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(scrolls back) AH!! I see that now. I'd repaint the gold buckle, then, to match the rest.
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man that is so much more awesome than I expected it to be. Perfect rendition of her. Shadows of the empire is one of the few expanded universe books i've read and actually enjoyed. Now all we need is the seduced leia! ;) lol
not to mention that the leia that was included in that didn't look like carie fisher at all! it is probably the WORST sculpt of leia I've seen yet (not including the potf and prior figs!)
now all you need is a decent looking stinger!
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I remember Luke let this gal go at the end of the novel. Did she show up ever again? I really did like her character as a droid assasin. Nice figure Virago!
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Thanks everybody! I'm really glad you guys like it! I actually just used the silver clasp because it was the only one I lad lying around, haha. Do you all think it would look better with a gold clasp, or with the belt buckle painted silver? Obviously painting the buckle would be easier, but new clasps aren't expensive, so whichever would make the fig look better is what I'd rather do.
Clonehead: The skirt wasn't too hard, just deciding on the shape of the fabric was initially tricky... I ended up going with a semi-circle shape, and then I put a pleat(?) in the back to keep it from being poofy. I used Testors acrylic paints, which are probably not the best out there, but they seem to be durable enough (when you let them cure long enough, haha) and go on very smoothly. Any recommendation for a more durable paint for the shoulder joints? I'm not really a fan of enamels on figs (never seems to dry, I wonder why?), but if you know of a good strong acrylic brand, let me know.
As for the Stinger, it's a pretty massive ship (from the illustrations I've seen it would have to be BMF sized), so I've just given her the Magnaguard fighter, which fits her nicely, and is curvy enough to kind of go with the idea of Stinger, plus it has those sweet storage bays for her skirt and weapons! It does need a good name though... hmm.... throw me some ideas :D
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I still think that the titan ae valkyrie would make a good stinger base.
use acrylic paints and try to lightly sand the joints to avoid paint rub.
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Do you all think it would look better with a gold clasp...
As long as you like your custom, it doesn't matter what I think.
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Altering those cankled legs so the figure was wearing boots was a great way to go. Nice job!
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Nice job on the custom. I never read the books but the fig looks cool. I am impressed with the skirt. I'm not even going to ask how long that took to make. I worked for five hours making just a blanket for my dog's bed. LOL
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That's the Guri figure you mentioned in the chat room. Really well done!
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Okay, here's another round of some customizations I've done... This time, I bring you Vader's Bounty Hunters! I don't have Zuckuss yet (can't freakin' WAIT for the new one to come out, they've been incomplete for so long!), and I have thus far left Dengar alone, although mine seems to be the wrong color, so he'll be on here soon enough.
Boba and Bossk's guns have been repainted, 4-LOM's head has been repainted to be movie accurate (See insert, curse you, Hasbro!), and IG-88 was customized from an IG-Lancer droid: I removed those obnoxious cones and made a bandolier. In the works one of these days will be a Vibro-ax, but I haven't decided how just yet. Enjoy!
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Great job!
Big thumbs up!
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Nice bounty hunters, Ryan. I really like the eyes on 4lom.
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Nice set of customizations to those figures!
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Wow, and here *I* am dismantling my lancers for parts! ;D They look great! What caught my eye - the graining on the wood stocks! That is IMPRESSIVE! How'd you do that??
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holy donky balls... those are awesome. That wood grain on Bossk's stock is fabulous! consider that stolen! no longer will my stocks be one solid color of brown....
the ig-88 is awesome as well. I've been meaning to do an updated version of all of these figures. My plan has always been to give them super articulation and more details as well as E.U. details not seen in the movies... I'm not a movie accurate stickler like you though, maybe I should be.....
again I'm inspired!
btw, wich version of bossk did you use? the votc one is the more articulated version correct? I've been trying to track down one of those for ages....
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holy donky balls... those are awesome. That wood grain on Bossk's stock is fabulous! consider that stolen! no longer will my stocks be one solid color of brown....
the ig-88 is awesome as well. I've been meaning to do an updated version of all of these figures. My plan has always been to give them super articulation and more details as well as E.U. details not seen in the movies... I'm not a movie accurate stickler like you though, maybe I should be.....
again I'm inspired!
btw, wich version of bossk did you use? the votc one is the more articulated version correct? I've been trying to track down one of those for ages....
HAHA I said that signed in as dawn... I dont think she would ever use the term "donky balls".... ::)
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Kurgan, USD (dan?) and Clonehead (clint?): Thanks! (the eyes were done with a base coat of gold-ish and a toothpick for the black)
Doc: Glad you like my wood grain, it was just a dark brown base color, with a light/reddish color that i painted in semi-circles with a weee tiny brush, then I kind of dry brushed in a straight barrel-to-stock direction so it wouldn't look so unnatural. As for your IGs, you should make 4 of them into IG-88 A-D, much better than parting them out!
Spud: good job speaking for dawn, lol. I'm generally only movie-accurate when I think it actually looks better, and adding EU stuff is always great! And yes, that was the VOTC Bossk, definitely worth tracking down... no pre-posed crap, full articulation, great detail and even the little red collar-doohickey is sculpted separately! If you like Bossk, he's totally worth it. So what are some EU details you'd add into them? I'm always looking for interesting stuff to give a little more detail, so throw me some ideas!
Everyone else, feel free to tell me what you think could be improved or whatever, I'm always open to a little constructive criticism!
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I think they are just great the way they are. Not sure how you could improve them.
And the new Zuckuss would make a great addition to anyones bounty hunter collection.
I cant wait for that one either.
Really excellent work on them all.
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Mainly what I was thinking about doing with my bounty hunter collection was getting each of their ships in the 3" titanium line and displaying them with their scale model ship as well. I think that it'd make a cool display.
the only real eu stuff I've thought about has been for boba. Stuff like his lightsabre, the "box" with the sorcerer's head in it, and other stuff taken from comic book references.
I havn't honestly researched the other bounty hunters enough to think of anything at the moment.
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Wow, I love these bounty hunters, especially those with the custom weapons.
I like your idea Spud about doing the titanium ships with each bounty hunter too. Do we have all thier ships yet? I know we have most of em.
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i know they've got boba's, jango's, ig-88s , and zuckass's was just released, cad bane's was released... the hound's tooth is bossk's... what's left?
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Lets see, did we get to Dengar yet? 4-LOM?
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I dont think I have ever seen a release of a Punishing One ship anywhere but in books or comics.
But I havent collected the mini ships at all. But I do look at them each time I go shopping, and I have never seen one.
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Hmm, I guess you're just talking about all bounty hunters in general, not Vader's group... Don't think it would work too well with Vader's... Boba and Slave I, Bossk and Hound's tooth, IG-88 and IG-2000, 4-LOM and Zuckuss with Mist Hunter, but Dengar's ship isn't out or in the works as far as I know. Would look cool if they had all of them out, and if 4-LOM and Zuckuss had their own ships, but I don't think they really did. I do like the idea of displaying characters with their ships in titanuim, though... hopefully I don't get inspired enough to dive into the realm of titanium, I've thus far managed to avoid them. Money I shouldn't be spending! :-X
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But they all worked for Vader in the comics at one time or another if I remember correctly.
Some kind of search for a box and a race with teams, and all over a bet if I remember right.
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Oh, nice! I haven't really read many SW comics (though I would like to, if I start getting paid more, haha!), just the first Clone Wars graphic novel and the ones that come with comic 2-pack figures. Might be time to expand my star wars horizons, I think! Any recommendations of good comic series to get into that are still in print?
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You can find all kinds of good ones. and they have been around quite a while.
Older Darkhorse SW comics from the late 90s and early 2000s are not overly expensive if you arent a comic nerd collector worried about mint condition bagged and boarded books, which I used to be sadly enough. The art from the earlier ones seems better to me, although lots of them now have great covers but lack the same calibur work inside. some of the older ones too.
I dont have too many any more, but you used to be able to look up back issues and specialty miniseries books for title info, and then just search and try to buy on ebay for single issues or series runs(not the cheapest way). If you do your research right, you will find books about whatever era fits your tastes best. Jedi/Sith War era was mine, and there was a great 4 book miniseries that forshadowed the Darth Bane books about 6 or more years before they released the Bane books. And that is where they introduced his apprentice the first time too. Lots of big Jedi names like Hoth and big Sith Lords...
Personally, I just look for used Graphic novels at local used bookstores like Hastings or whatever they are in your area.
Or you can occasionally read the synopsis and get the basics about a storyline and a few pics from the books at www.wookieepedia.com by searching for a title or storyline name there, and it expands out to most characters and locations and about any other thing you can think of. But the search engine is only as smart as you are, so I have trouble sometimes.
Lots of these bookstores will mark down comics to get rid of them, so you can get bargains. Or just read them there like everyone else that makes me so mad when i go looking. Lots of nasty grubby hands all over the books and cant get near them to see what they do or do not have.
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Haha, yeah, people who read the whole things in bookstores do suck... it's not a library, people, it's a business. Graphic novels are probably a good way to go... I just don't want to really like something only to find out that one issue is impossible to find, best have the whole story in one place! I've been kind of interested in the whole story of the Royal Guards thing, but haven't gotten around to actually looking for it, think it's easy enough to find?
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They had a mini sreies about Carnor Jax and Kir Kanos that was really good . And then expanded it later where Kir Kanos was a bounty hunter after the royal guard thing was done. Basically just so he could hunt down who he thought were bad Imperials without people trying to collect the bounty on his head. Cant remember the name he used for the life of me right now.
And when I tried wookieepedia it was down. that sucks, cause it is a great way to look up lots of SW stuff in one place, but its stuff put up by fans like us and fact checked and ussually pretty right on factually.
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Nice, sounds awesome! I first heard about the series when I got a Senate Security figure and read about the sculpting for the armor beneath the soft goods being based on those. Can't wait to find them to read!
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And when I tried wookieepedia it was down. that sucks, cause it is a great way to look up lots of SW stuff in one place, but its stuff put up by fans like us and fact checked and ussually pretty right on factually.
I use wookiepedia to get ideas for my customs alot of times...
Look up a character you want to do on there and usually they will list ALL possible data on them. Even EU stuff. I've gotten alot of Ideas for boba from his article on there that I still havn't been able to put to actual figs yet.
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Okay, time for some custom guns I've made! I was sick of having piles of locker-pack-in guns lying around and nowhere near enough clones to use them (since every new clone had a whole locker!), so I decided to make some better guns out of them. I'll try to explain what they're made from, but ask if you have any other questions. DB=Droid Blaster, EG=EMP Grenade launcher thing, P=DC-15S Pistol, R=DC-15A Rifle.
- On top is a shotgun: Barrel from DB, front grip is SR scope, body and rings from EG, butt is another handle from EG, with a wide trigger guard so that my Scout Trooper can use it (definitely a great figure!)
- Middle is a double-barrel blaster thing I like to cal the Excommunicator ;D : Barrels are SR barrels, rings & body from EG, I forget which gun the front grip is from (same as with the trigger guard on the shotgun, oops!), and top handle thing is from the DB.
- On the bottom left, I have two custom pistols I made from the DC-15S pistol to replace the two puny little pistols that come with the Clone Commander... I really liked the way the originals look in the holsters (mine don't fit), but they were just too tiny for my tastes. I basically just chopped off the barrels and re-glued the tips at different lengths for the heavy & the light one, and gave the heavy one a sliced-longways SR scope on top for a little extra bulk.
- The bottom right is a Jedi communicator I made with the EG handle and some various greeblies left over from making the guns. It needs a few more colors, but it works well enough since I already have wide-stance Episode III obi-wan, and refuse to buy essentially the same figure with a narrow stance just for the stupid comm. Yay cheapness!
I have a few more that I need to photograph, including a chain-gun that I think you guys will like, but you'll have to wait for now! I also made the Scout Trooper's Pistol seen in the pic below, but i haven't gotten good detail pics of it yet. Enjoy!
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xv we must be on the same wavelength... this is creepy. I was customizing weopons this morning too. I got real into it too. I'm going to do a bunch more out of the random weopons that I have laying around that I don't like.
something I did though was had a couple busted dvd players that I scavenged greeblies from and used those to detail alot of them with. NEVER throw away old electronics as they are a great source of small greeblie detialing for customizing!
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sweet custom man it looks awsome
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hasbro needs to hire you man that gun is awsome
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Wow, love the guns. Man, you customs guys can just make whatever the heck you want. I can't even see where any of the joins are!
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A lot of really good stuff, liking the Guri. I think you made it into a better figure than it was. The most outstanding piece I see here though is the Bossk gun. Sweet paint job on that one, I'd give it a 10. What kind of paint do you use?
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With about 15 lockers of guns just laying around, now I have more ideas what to do with them.
Thanks and great job.
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Wow, Virago, those custom guns are kickin! The top one is my favorite!
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Yeah, Ryan. Those guns are really cool!
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And so many people said that Leia was worthless, great job she looks outstanding!
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Spud: Thanks and funny about the DVD player, I never would have thought to save electronics for customizing, good idea!
Customclone and Tamer: Thanks, glad you guys like them! I try and hide the splices on already-existing sculpt lines rather than just wherever, it seems to work at hiding the joinings... also super glue and lots of flat black paint to fill in any gaps!
Kessel: Glad you like it! I use mainly Model Master paints (for the natural colors) and some Testors (for the more primary ones including Guri's shirt), but as long as it's acrylic it all turns into plastic anyways ;)
Dana: Glad to inspire you, you'll have to let me know when you get some new ones, I might need to steal some ideas!
Clint & Dan: Glad you guys like them, I like the shotgun thing best too (partly because it's the only one that was big enough for me to bore out the barrel a bit!), though it is a bit awkward for some of them to hold two-handed... might have to scale it down a bit if i ever try it again.
Masterfett: I'd have totally agreed that Leia was worthless before I started... cankles, ugly outfit and whatever that stupid cloth thingie was that was attached to her arms, shame on Hasbro for all that! Glad you like her though!
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Okay, time for some more... here's a pair of custom battle droids from the Republic Commando video game! It took me forever to actually find a good reference picture of them, but I finally did, and I'm really happy with them. They started out as the two-pack of rust-red battle droids, which I chose because if the paint ever scratched off, it would look better than having that light tan crap showing through. Enjoy!
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Oh Yeah, Virago, I really like those. What kind of paint did you use? Lucas should have made all of the battle droids that color. Perhaps he was afraid they would look too much like the terminator robots.
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To be honest, I would have liked the battledroids to be a bit more of a serious enemy to the GAR.
You always see them attack in unimaginative waves, trying to overwhelm the Troopers with sheer numbers. You see nothing like "intelligent" programming such as 3PO and R2 seem to have.
Yours surely look very cool!
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Thanks! I agree about wanting the battle droids to be smarter... If the separatists had spent their money on fewer but more intelligent battle droids, with better armor and not all being controlled by a singular source, they totally could have done better (though it still makes sense for them to be dumb enough to lose considering the war was basically staged by Palpatine anyways). Oh and more Droidekas, because those things are some of the coolest fighting droids out there. Anything that makes Jedi run scared is pretty bad ass!
I always hated how stupid the basic battle droids were, with their constant "roger roger" and annoying voices. One roger is plenty, thank you. One of the only really funny things that have come out of their mouths was when grievous, in the clone wars movie, pushed one off some cliff for pretty much no reason, and he screams "Whaaaaaaaaaaaay?" I thought this was funny because it starts off seeming like he's just giving a generic scream, but at the last second you realize that he was actually questioning Grievous's senseless violence towards them. Priceless!
Oh, I also agree that all battle droids should look like this (Not that I'm claiming credit for the design, as it was just from the game)... the eyes alone are so much better looking than those two half-circle things. I've been tempted to do all my battle droids in this scheme, they definitely look better when grouped with the SBDs and Droidekas like this... I like my little squad that's these two BDs, two SBDs, and a droideka, led by either a magnaguard or IG-88 (depending on what I'm feeling that day)
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the droids look 100 times better than regular droids. I always wondered what was up with the eyes anyway... they look like they just have painted on eyes, even in the movie. Are the half circles actually optical sensors? or are they there for looks?
I did a battle droid up like this one a while back... I also did a terminator/battle droid combo that looks pretty cool as well... I think it's somewhere in my thread if you wanna look it up. funny thing is after I started doing some research there was actually a battle droid in the EU that looks dead up like a terminator that was designed to fight the vong! sounded to me like a perfect way to fit the 3.75" terminators into the star wars verse!
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Very nice. Daggone I miss that video game.
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Nice painting work on all of this stuff!! Republic Commando is still one of my favorite games, that and Battlefront 2. Fantastic work. Love Bossk's gun, great stuff!
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seriously minty dude
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Awesome customs dude, keep them coming!
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These look great. You've done to these droids what the Prequels could never do--make them look cool.
Did you ever mention what kind of paint you used?
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Very cool!
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Thanks everybody, glad you like them!
Steel: I use Model Masters for most of my metallic and natural / Earth-tone paints, and Testors for my more primary / synthetic looking colors. The only real reason is that I started off customizing when I got a paint-your-own model car acrylic kit from Testors, and when I wanted to get some easy no-mix natural looking colors, I went up to Hobby Lobby and the main one they had was the Model Masters (no Testors acrylic at all!). Both paints are pretty good, but I kind of like the Testors bottles a little better because the layers or sealing stuff under the cap seem to crap out a little less with use. I never use all that much paint when I do a customization job (except a full repaint job like Guri and the Battle Droids) which is why I like to have at least a few pre-made colors... mixing always uses up a lot of paint for me, and I end up wasting it, even though I actually really like mixing myself (like a sweet skin-tone I made for Guri, can you tell where?). And, with a pre-made color, I can always add in just a little of another color to shift it in the direction I want it to go without wasting too much paint.
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The driods look fantastic. I like the the realism you out into the customs, The wood grain on the gun stocks in the first page are killer.
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Really dig your weapon work, as well as those battle droids!
I'm really impressed by the pieces that I've seen in your thread. Nice job on the bounty hunters, too.
I also am chomping at the bit for a new Zuckuss.
Nice customs. Keep up the good work.
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Okay, time for some new customs! First, A W.I.P. clone commando... sort of. I'm really into the Republic Commando novels, so I want a super-articulated Omega Squad, and the crappy ones in the 4-pack just aren't doin' it for me. So, I took a Mark I (i.e. episode II) standard clone, chopped his helmet fin off (those things are dumb looking anyways), and mixed up a color as close as I could to the visor color of the RCs. I tried mixing a bit of silver into it to make it look shiny, but it didn't happen.. maybe one day I'll just make a gradient going white-teal-black from top to bottom, with a weeeee tiny brush. Also, he will have a backpack once I can figure out what to make it out of. Enjoy!
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sweet start on that RC... never been a fan of the RC's myself. They looked too bulky or something for me to realy like them. This however, might turn out to change my mind.
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Looks great, IMHO. I agree, regarding the helmet fin. Fantastic job on the removal of that silly thing. You made it look like it never existed.
Nice paint job. Looks very cool.
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Okay, now time for the most glorious thing I can post (considering my forum name here), drum roll please, prepare for my custom.... Xizor's Virago! Woo! I basically gave it a silver dry-brush because it always looked way too plastic-y for my tastes. But, since Xizor is the most badass gangster in the galaxy, I figured he wouldn't let it get dirty, so a black grime wash wouldn't really do. I gave it silver, but I think maybe one day I might do a more even mixture of silver and black to give a real dark gunmetal look to it. For now, though, silver. I tried to get as much of the silver out of the panel-lines, because it really doesn't make sense being in there, and I gave it a little in-flight grime around the engines, vector thrusters and guns, because it is still a spaceship! Also, I drilled out the barrels in the guns, because lasers need somewhere to come out of, hah!
The first shot is when I started to give you a comparison (though I had kinda started on one wing). Hope you all enjoy, let me know if you have any comments or suggestions, I'm fully open to repainting this bad boy again to make it the ship Xizor really would fly. Enjoy!
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man that is so much better than the original colors. Much lest plasticy... Love the drilled out cannons. MUCH BETTER. can we get a detail shot of the rear? I honestly can't remember what it looks like back there!
man this makes me want to dig out all my action fleet ships and give them all the customizing treatment... God knows I'll never be able to get the entire collection and most of them are nowhere near mint condition anymore so I figure making them even more one of a kind would be a good road to go down...
of course... I'll keep my tie defender as mint as I can keep it ;)
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Snap, you're right spudd, I totally forgot the backside pics. Here ya go!
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nice... the engines need a repaint. no offense, but the originals don't look awesome enough for the other redone paint!
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Excellent job on your namesake. Vast improvement over the original version.
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Looks coolXV! I like that commando also. All this time that I have been casting RC heads and I have never tried sticking one on this body sculpt.I will have to try that.
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Thanks, guys! I've been thinking about the paint job, and I've decided it looks almost like it's just made out of some weird mineral rather than painted... At first when I finished, it looked a little messy, so I considered re-doing it by just making a silver and black mixture and painting regularly rather than dry brushing, but then I thought about it, and thought that if I were a super rich bad-ass who has good enough tastes to keep a bonsai tree (yes, it''s in the novel, called a fire-thorn tree), I would totally have a ship made out of some bizarrely rare metal unpainted to show it off. Maybe I'm over-thinking about it, but whatever!
Spudd: you're right about the engines, but I don't know what I could really do with paint better than the sticker on there... My gradients are always a little messy looking, due to the fact that I haven't busted out the old air brush lately (though I totally should!). The only thing I could think as an improvement would be to throw in some LEDs, but it's such a tiny space I'd have a hell of a time getting the electronics in there without breaking the damn thing, and I really have no idea how to do that stuff at all yet, but if you have any other ideas or know how to do LEDs in a small space, let me know! (By the way, holy crap tie defender sweet!)
Ribbit: glad you like it!
Clonehead, glad you like it as well, the "commando" head is just the head that came on the standard clone, all I did was cut off the fin and repaint.
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Looks good XV. If you want any more of these, I saw my wallyworld was clearancing these out a five bucks at my store last night.
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Wow, 5 bucks for Viragos... super tempting!
Okay, time for a group of barely-customized figures, haha. As you all hopefully know, there is a comic two-pack of # Ganner Krieg and Antares Draco, two Imperial Knights out there.. Well, I freaking love the design of them, and want more than just the two, so I did a customized head and a couple head swaps to make my own little group. Now I know they're not the canon group, but eh, whatever. Basically, I have one Antares with his original head, and the rest are different. I first customized Ganer's head by repainting his hair and taking off that obnoxious pony tail (which I thought should hang over a shoulder rather than in back), and then replaced my other pack's heads with the Galactic Marine head and Talon Karrde, both of which fit almost as perfectly as the originals.Like I said, not really a difficult custom job. Enjoy!
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sometimes the simplest customs can be the most effective
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That's an intemidating looking group.
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hey xv... have you thought about taking the virago apart and looking at it's insides?
I tell you what... wait untill I get back to my parents house and i'll dig out my virago and I'll take it apart and see if I can suggest a way to inventively put in LED lights...
I am thinking (from what I remember of the toy) of a way to do it... but I'm not sure about it...
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Great work here Xizor, that ship of your is looking good. I love the custom weapons you posted Very cool ideas there.
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Love the Imperial Knights.
They look really badaxx.
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nice work on the Virago. It's so unique in design, I like that it's not forgotten about (I'm a SOTE fanatic still after all these years). In fact, in my new thread I'm gonna go post my Snoova custom now.
awesome work on the Imperial Knights I too LOVE that design and I like seeing additional one. these head swaps are really effective, especially the Karrde head, he makes one BADASS looking IK. And as I've been wondering what to do with the one I have, I think I'm gonna rip that idea off. Do you have plans to make a few additional female ones to back up Sigel Dare?
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- Wraithnine: I agree, especially the reversible customs, haha!
- Clonehead, Kurgan and Sprywalker: Thanks!
- Spudd: Sounds good, let me know if you think of a way, I would LOVE to wire this bad boy up with some proper engines. I would also like to be able to change the batteries without having to disassemble the whole thing every time though, so keep that in mind... maybe a cutout battery door with mini-screws or something?
- NFC: glad you saw my thread, I just got on (been busy lately) and saw your Snoova, and was like "sweet, someone else who likes SotE!" Did you see my Guri figure? I felt that would be a better figure to include with the new-ish comic two-pack Xizor (instead of 80's aerobics outfit leia)... definitely a great pack for SotE fans by the way, the Xizor is totally the one we've been needing for so long! You may need to trim off a bit from the bottom of his shirt...thing... but you'll never see the difference, aside from having him stand properly, haha!
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question for you xv, does that xixor have knee and ankle joints or is he POTFified?
and... if you don't see my pm before this I was thinking about making the cockpit that slides forward a batery compartment... since it'd be more of a display model anyway instead of a toy I figure I'd use what's already there...
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Okay, here's another round of some customizations I've done... This time, I bring you Vader's Bounty Hunters!
I LOVE the ESB bounty hunters, I'm totally weak for them and all customs of them
(http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=956.0;attach=7059;image)
dude, that's some AWESOME detailing I never thought to do but it adds a lot
(http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=956.0;attach=7061;image)
I really never noticed the total lack of detailing on the figure's head before now but that extra paint adds like 10 times the depth
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Okay, I've finally taken pictures of this custom... it's taken me a couple weeks (longer than I've ever bothered with one figure, haha), and here it is, my custom Guri figure! She's a repaint of the comic two-pack Leia (who came with Xizor), and would have totally been a better figure to pack in with Xizor, being his personal assistant assassin. I've sculpted the boot rims out of a sniper rifle strap, and made her skirt with cotton, hemmed around the edge, using a necklace clasp to hold it on. Let me know what you think, I'd love some input on this figure!
best Guri ever
I truly thought that ridiculous Leia was beyond redemption, blessed with being totally useless but you proved it wrong. LOL
why the hell couldn't Hasbro have just done that in the first place?
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hasbro's thinking probably went somethign like this:
let's do a SOTE comic pack
who should we put in it?
Xixor for sure!
What about guri?
no, noone will rememeber or know who that is,
Ooo... what about the scene in the story where xixor seduces leia into being his slave?!
YEAH! everyone loves a good seduction!
People will buy up a new sexy version of leia for sure!
ok, so leia and xixor it is....
post production:
hmmm... that leia looks rediculous
yeah, not sexy at all...
well... maybe the fans won't notice!
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I just picked up the Titanium version of the Virago
glad I did :)
always goood to find another SW fan who still has love for the 13 year old Shadows Of The Empire storyline
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Okay, time for some custom guns I've made! I was sick of having piles of locker-pack-in guns lying around and nowhere near enough clones to use them (since every new clone had a whole locker!), so I decided to make some better guns out of them. I'll try to explain what they're made from, but ask if you have any other questions. DB=Droid Blaster, EG=EMP Grenade launcher thing, P=DC-15S Pistol, R=DC-15A Rifle.
(http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=956.0;attach=7152;image)
those are all incredible looking! I love every one of them.
can you send them to Spudafett so he can cast them up someday so all of our troopers can have some wicked armament like that? ;D
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lol or clint, or doc, anyone of us could try. Weopons are proving to be very dificult to cast... clint did a fine job with the clone rifles the other day... he used a method that puts alot of work into it but is worth it in the end.
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- Spudd: As for Xizor's knees, yes and no. He actually has ball jointed knees and ankles, but his robe is plastic, so it kinda defeats the point... But, if you customized him a bit and made that cloth, he'd be good to go (since I know you have no problem customizing, haha). Here's what he looks like... http://www.rebelscum.com/photo.asp?image=/TLC/ComicPacks/08LeiaXizor/TLC-431.jpg
As for Hasbros line of thought, hilarious! I can totally see that happening. Oh, good idea about the cockpit on Virago, by the way... won't be doing that to mine probably (I like it being able to hold a figure), but let me know how it works out, it sounds pretty much perfect!
- NFC: glad you like them, the bounty hunters are some of my faves... I've almost got all 6 in full articulated goodness, just waiting on that sweet new Zuckuss figure! (also agree about Hasbro's choice of giving us leia, lol). As for those guns, they're just frankenguns of the stupid clone gun locker guns they give us with figures, pretty easy to slap together if you've got an exacto knife, paint and some super glue (all I used).
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- NFC: glad you like them, the bounty hunters are some of my faves... I've almost got all 6 in full articulated goodness, just waiting on that sweet new Zuckuss figure!
when IS the ETA for Zuckuss and the rest of the ESB wave?
(http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b190/wookietattoo/SW%20customs/th_tattoobh.jpg) (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b190/wookietattoo/SW%20customs/tattoobh.jpg)
As for those guns, they're just frankenguns of the stupid clone gun locker guns they give us with figures, pretty easy to slap together if you've got an exacto knife, paint and some super glue (all I used).
I'm going to have to either rip off a couple of them myself or at least try to approximate some, if you don't mind. :) Seriously, some of those are wicked bad ass!
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I have no idea when Zuckuss is supposed to be coming out... I only ever saw a picture of him on somebody's flickr page where they went to hasbro's preview show thingie and he had a release date of 10/4 if I recall, but clearly he's not out yet (or we'd probably see some on Ebay or reviewed online, i think...). Hopefully he'll come out soon, same with the two-leg-set Slave Leia, I can't wait for that one! ;)
As for the guns, go ahead! Imitation is the highest form of flattery after all, so long as you don't go telling people you came up with them, haha! The trick is just to chop and glue, then give a layer of flat black to hide the super glue white color, and really glob the black in at joints that weren't perfect, it hides them nicely. Then just give a silver dry brushing or little silver "paint chip" dots on some of the raised points that would likely get scratched to make them seem like they're metal instead of plastic. Good luck!
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outstanding customs mate
I'm a big fan of your Bounty Hunters and the RC Battle Droids
awesome work
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VV, the new Zuckuss is starting to show up in stores now so start looking. And fix his damn coat after you do so his presentation matches the quality of your 4LOM and Bossk custom upgrades (I'm not opposed to "soft goods" at all but they have to be done right... the long coat on Legacy Zuckuss is just half-ass and looks TERRIBLE)
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Fiala, glad you like my work!
NFC: I've heard they have, can't wait to get some time to actually make the rounds and find him! And yes, I do believe I'll be fixing that soft-goods part... the "dirt" splotches are just sad looking. I do believe that I might just have to find some nice thin distressed brown leather, how cool would that be to finish him? :D Then I'll have to give his gun some dry-brushing, and i might even re-do his eyes, with a slightly darker base color and then a very tiny, tightly packed grid of bright silver dots, sort of like this: http://www.starstore.com/acatalog/zuckuss-artfx.jpg but we'll see what I think needs doing once he's in my hands, mwahahaha (greedy rubbing together of hands).
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one of my ultimate goals was to do the entire bounty hunter set super articulated.... I got greedo done as a test and wound up selling him. I think zuckus and 4-lom will be the first of the actual executor scene I do. I realy have been wanting to do bossk for a long time, but can't find the super arty OTC version of him anywhere...
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When is the last time that Dengar was released, besides the comic pack one?
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The Dengar I have (which I believe is the most recent besides ugly comic pack one) is the Executor Meeting one... the Bossk from that series is crap compared to his VOTC figure, but Dengar is the best one so far, though I believe he may have the same sculpt as comic book one, just with a much better paint job. His articulation is decent for standing around looking mean... swivel head (mainly just because of the sculpted bandages), really wide-range ball jointed shoulders, angle-cut left elbow and a straight swivel joint cut through his right bicep, swivel waist, swivel hips, and nothing articulated below that (so nothing in the knees or ankles). However, his sculpt and paintwork is really nice, and his backpack is removable and really detailed. Hmm, I think I should be doing figure reviews! But, in the mean time, I agree with Spudd in that the bounty hunter line definitely needs full articulation, and aside from poor Dengar here, all mine are fully articulated (well, none have ball-jointed hips, but that's really only necessary for riding Dewbacks anyways!). Might have to think about giving good 'ol dengar a bit of a joint upgrade, except I can't imagine how I' do that without butchering his amazing sculpt. If anyone ever wants to try, be sure and let me know what the result is!
Oh, as an afterthought, I looked on Rebelscum, and Executor Meeting Dengar is indeed the same sculpt as Comic pack one, he just doesn't look all goofy;
http://www.rebelscum.com/photo.asp?image=/TLC/ComicPacks/06ShysaDengar/TLC-280.jpg
It's amazing to me that they would release figures in those terrible paint schemes when they look soooo amazing when properly painted. I mean, Shysa is a repaint of the evolutions Fett (but with a different headsculpt), and just look at how ugly the figure looks in those crayola neon colors. Curse you, Hasbro! Has anyone ever seen or made a Fenn Shysa that looks less like the german swear word his last name reminds me of?
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xv, dengar's upper legs look alot like a modified stormtrooper armor... you might be able to use legs from a trooper or other armored figure as stand ins. OR hollow out the existing dengar legs and fit them over a skinny animated clone's legs... even use the arf trooper and get ball jointed hips out of it.
I always like using the joe parts and I'd probably try to find a work around for doing that...
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Ooh, I like where you're going with the hollowing out armor and using a skinny clone... I have a crapped-up skinny clone lying around that's been wanting to give up those joints for some time... I could definitely see separating his little knee-diamonds from the thigh armor so he could bend his legs and they would point forward. HMM. Probably wouldn't bother with the hips, don't really have any Joes lying around, and his legs kind of spread apart when he sits down anyways, due to a bit of an angle at which they're cut, so he could probably ride a swoop. Well now I have to go try it on the BARC speeder I chopped guns off and painted red to turn it into a SOTE swoop looking bike....Well, he fits pretty good. We'll see, maybe I'll do the joe-hips one day down the road, when I've practiced that on less important figures.
Oh by the way, here's that speeder bike I was talking about! (the original, in white, for comparison!)
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wow, it looks awesome
great job on the weathering
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Great customs mate, specially the bounty hunters.
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that is a realy cool rendition of the barc speeder. IT definately stands to reason that after the clone wars was over, and the imperial army switched to the traditional speeder, that barc speeders would be floating around as civilian models. it looks good in hot rod colors too.
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Great speeder.
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Very nice, I am liking that repaint.
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NFC: I've heard they have, can't wait to get some time to actually make the rounds and find him! And yes, I do believe I'll be fixing that soft-goods part... the "dirt" splotches are just sad looking. I do believe that I might just have to find some nice thin distressed brown leather, how cool would that be to finish him? :D
Hells YES
I seriously hope you find him soon because I'm dying to see how you fix it up. Believe me, ANYTHING you do to fix the coat will be an improvement, Hasbro's failed attempt looks even worse when the figure is in-hand than it does in the pictures. Seriously, everything else sculpt and articulation and details is great but after 11 years of waiting for Zuckuss to get done right and up to modern standards, it hurts that it's still so short of the mark. (Other than the paint on its head 4LOM from 07 was awesome, 06 IG-88 was amazing, and 06 Bossk WAS perfect. Zuckuss should have been too!)
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I really like that speeder. Front page bound.
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I *love* civilian SW vehicles, and this swoop is really great. Great work on all the customs you've shown!!!
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Damn, VV, that BARC looks fantastic in crimson. I never imagined it but works nicely.
Great work on SOTE Luke in his tan fishing vest too, further proof that super simple customs are sometimes just as effective as elaborate time consuming one.
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Nice Barc, XF! The subtle weathering looks good on it.
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Great work, Ryan! I don't think I've seen you here in awhile. Good to see you back.
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Great Job, the paint job really seems to change the lines and feel of the speeder, looks more more "pirate or swoop gang" I like it,
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- NFC: I just recently purchased the Zuckuss (my girlfriend was like "I do not know you" when I got all excited finding it in the store, haha), and actually managed to get the skirt looking just fine, just took a bit of pushing and shoving to tuck it in properly. I still really want to make it leather or brown vinyl, though... that would be spectacular, yes...
- Fiala: glad you like the bike! It was mainly me not wanting to eBay an old one, and being fairly sure I'd be dissatisfied with the shape anyways, lol.
- 00fire: thanks, glad you like them!
- Spud: you are totally right about people using old military stuff, just look at Jeeps! That was kind part of my reasoning behind using it, as well as just liking the overall shape of it.
- Clonesareawesome, Lukesprywalker, Flaccideagle, Clonehead, USD and Reconsgt: thanks! Really glad you guys like it, always makes it worthwhile!
- Tamer: thanks! I love it when my stuff is front-page worthy, I'm a total attention whore, but isn't that part of the fun of this website? :D
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Okay folks, I've finally got a working computer again (why I haven't been on here in forever), so hopefully I'll be back a lot more often now! Here are a couple customs I've been doing lately. First, we have my custom Admiral Ackbar: I basically shaved the little crab emblems off the Mon Cal warrior, made little utility belt boxes and an insignia, then repainted him with flat white (body suit) and cream (vest), and then gave his exposed parts a gloss clear coat to make him look a little more squiddy than his clothes!
Also, I recently got the Count Dooku with the soft-goods cape, and gave him the real-chain treatment I gave to my Vader figures. Enjoy!
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Nice customs, Ryan! I love the Ackbar!
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WowTWos, Ryan, that ackbar did turn out nice! I like the chain treatment and the dooku, also.
It's good to see you back.
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wow great figures mate. The Ackbar looks awesome. I hope we will see a new Hasbro Ackbar one day.
great job
10/10
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ITS A TRAP! My eyes can't repel customized awesomeness of this magnitude!
seriously, that ackbar is awesome.... I'd love to do a super arty version of him.....
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Ackbar looks great!! Looks very squiddy lol!! Nice, like it.
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Loving the Ackbar, welcome back guy. On the front page again. I am anxious to hear your take on some of the new Vintage figures we are getting this year.
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Good to see you back and that Ackbar is AWESOME! Great job!
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very good figures xv there outstanding
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ur ackbar rock socks!!!!!!! i bet hasbro cant even come up with anything close
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nice customs dude :)
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Ackbar and Dooku look amazing. Ackbar especially...the combination of parts is fantastic. It seems strange to me that he has yet to receive a super-articulated update.
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That Ackbar is awesome
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Very cool Ackbar, Love it!
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I do so love them Mon Cals! Nice work!
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nice customs!
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Thanks, guys! Glad you like Ackbar, he was a really good one to make, my rebel forces are stronger than ever! And now, for something completely different.
Okay, everyone knows this year is the 30th anniversary of Empire, and I have certainly been in a mood for all things ESB. While I was digging around through my collection, I realized that I actually didn't have something that I have been desiring for quite some time, a really nice looking, fully articulate Bespin Han. I know they're releasing a Hoth version, in his big winter coat, but that's just not as awesome as his blue jacket outfit. I had the Torture Rack Han (http://www.rebelscum.com/photo.asp?image=/TAC/TAC38HanSoloFR.jpg) , but everyone who's seen it knows how terrible it is... those anorexic skinny legs, that terrible "tortured" face that just looks like he doesn't know how to close his mouth, that awful mid-torso articulation point that juts out way too much... all kinds of terrible. BUT, I also have a really excellent figure (which I will now need to re-purchase), which is Shield Generator Han (http://www.rebelscum.com/photo.asp?image=/TLC/BattlePacks/ShieldGeneratorAssault/TLC-084.jpg) . His face really looks like Harrison Ford, his chest has a nice hidden arty-point, and his shirt is neat and tidy tucked in, plus he actually comes with a blaster belt! So, in Honor of the ESB 30th anniversary, I sacrificed SG Han to make my Ultimate Bespin Han!
Essentially I cracked open SG Han's chest (after basically destroying TR Han's to get at his jacket arms without damaging them at all) and gave him TR's jacket-wearing arms, glued him all back together (after having to try to heat his two chest-halves up enough to align tightly enough that he's not loose), and gave him the vest part of the jacket, which nicely hides the line of separation. I then gave his boots a gloss coat so they would look a bit more distinct from his pants, and painted his droid caller. I had previously painted up his blaster for use with my VOTC Han, so that's now got a silver barrel with teeny little black dots on the flash suppressor (because the sculpt has them on there), as well as some silver "paint chipping" effect. Hope you all like him, but tell me if there's anything you think could be improved!
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Here's another shot of him with my awesome VOTC Chewie (the one out now who comes with the breathing mask, who absolutely everyone should own!)
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nice han and chewie ryan you should hav them fight with boosk
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Oh my word. And Hasbro could EASILY do this one up for us and we'd buy them by the truckload. (wanna see how Hasbro reuses bits and parts? Go to yojoe.com and look at how regularly they already do it for Joes...)
XR, you've done a GREAT job on this fig! I know - simple concept (with some challenging execution, just to keep you honest) but perfect "off the shelf" looks in the completion! Looks like I'll be after some certain figs on ebay soon...
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nice figures!
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I really like that Han.
I might have to do me one up like that.
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Looks fabulous.
I've often wondered what exactly went wrong with Torture Rack Han's legs. If you compare them to both the VOTC and Shield Generator versions, you'll see that they basically used the exact same sculpt with a single modification to remove the holster thigh strap--i.e. every other detail is the same. I think the overly barrel chest adds to the illusion of Torture Rack Han having smaller legs.
Regardless, if Hasbro duplicated the figure you created, I'd be happy to call it my Bespin Han. Nice job!
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Very nice job! This is a great Han and I think we will see many people copy this. This is so needed and so sad the Bro has the parts and can't even figure it out. They continue to give us old inferior figures. Great job XV!
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Well I have to admit I hate everything on here.........
I would also be lying if I did admit that, first off I love the concept for your Admiral Ackbar I plan on doing something similiar with a few of those Mon Cals however making them troopers for the Rebel Alliance, seeing they are bringing out an Admiral Ackbar which I will be getting a few of as well, because I want to make them up into custom Officers.
I also like the Bespin Han although he does seem a little on the skinny side but that's not your fault it's Hasbro for making the parts of Han slim.
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Thanks everybody, glad you all like him!
- Darth Neo: I totally agree, and I am going to set up a bar fight between them, with a few other guys thrown in there, just for you!
- Doc: Glad you like him, I agree that Hasbro totally could -and should- release one like this, especially if they give us that O2 mask that comes with the current crappy one that's out there! I refuse to buy what looks like a POTF figure just for that (albeit totally sweet) accessory... If you do try to make your own (and I totally recommend that you do!) be sure and heat-press the two chest pieces together after you've separated them but before you glue them back together, without the arms and legs in there. If you get them to fit perfectly again before gluing, you'll have nice stiff arm / torso movement that won't be loose and wobbly at all. The chest is a very hard plastic, which is why it's best to re-align those halves without any of the softer pieces in place yet so you can heat up a bit more without warping anything. Good luck!
- Cap'n Lux and Mandalore the Skepsis: glad you like him!
- BR Steel: I think the mold is pretty close to the same, but I really think the waist part is a bit smaller, although it could just be my imagination, I suppose.
- Sprywalker: Thanks, I hope people do! I'd love to see what other people do differently, like a Bespin-Han Build-off, hah!
- Cimter: Are they really making a new Ackbar? I haven't seen or heard anything about that! You should post a link on here if you find a picture or whatever. Also as for the skinny legs, I was really considering using my Deleted Scene Biggs (http://www.rebelscum.com/tf2007/HasbroTAC/image18.asp) for the legs, because they definitely had more bulk, but the only articulation was at the hips, so I figured it was a worthy sacrifice to get hips, ball jointed knees and ball jointed ankles instead. I'm such a sucker for uber articulation! :D
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nice Han Solo!
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Alright, whoever is a fan of teeny tiny little itty bitty stuff is gonna love this next one... In yet another tribute to the 30th anniversary of Empire, I'm building a model of the Falcon that's pretty much in scale with micro machine figures, so it's about as long as my elbow-to-fingertip distance. And, since any good ship needs a pilot (and co-pilot!), I've painted up my Han and Chewie, with Han actually consisting of a different head (the one that came with the model was wearing a helmet?!), and with what I can only assume are the wrong arms, because I had to do a little slicing to get them to fit, haha. So, here are my freshly painted mini-figures, enjoy!
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as an action fleet fan ..i think its superb!
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Now that was some tiny detail painting. Good job, XV!
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Thanks, wraithnine and clonehead! This morning I looked at them and decided I definitely needed to make Chewie a bandoleer, so I used the strap from one of the 3 3/4" sniper rifle straps (the "clone gear"), and sliced it thinner so it wouldn't look quite as bulky. Enjoy, let me know what you think! (the dime is in there for a sense of scale, in case anyone was wondering!)
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Are you going to use that dime to see if the Falcon can turn on it. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Good luck on the model building. Can't wait to see it.
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Haha, nice one, JM!
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score!! nice anyway boosk hates chewie if you want to do a background search you,ll see what i mean ;)
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damn.... having been someone who put together the older mel. falcon model I know how tiny these figures are... I wound up using a han and chewie from the transformer's line so that they'd be in scale and already painted! lol
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Wow, thanks for the close up shot. Nice bandolier work on chewie. Now that reminds me of how tedious it was to paint details on the little 1/72nd scale military model figures that I used to get into.
That's some detailing skill, folks!
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Wow! That is cool! and some small details to paint. Can't wait to see more on this.
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cool ;D
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very very nice XV
Chewie looks really good with the custom bandolier.
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cool!
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Cool deal. Don't know how I missed this one. On the front page.
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Spud: I actually did use an AF chewie for sitting at the game table, since I couldn't think of how to make the cockpit removable!
Clonehead: glad you like the bandolier, it was indeed tedious work, but I love it!
Luke Sprywalker, Captain Lux, Fiala, Commander Charlie and Tamer: Glad you all like it!
Alright, now for something a little different... Continuing with the Hoth diorama I'm going to be doing with the Falcon, I've decided to turn a crappy looking little dinosaur thing from the Truce at Bakura micro-machines set into something I actually like, a Taun-taun! First, a picture of the thing I started with:
(http://m2museum.com/StarWars/dcp_9991.jpg)
And now, the process! First, I shaved off the head cone and long nose, then I took a section out of the arms, made some horns by using plastic shavings, and painted it up. Hope you all like it!
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really nice!
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the taun-taun looks very good XV
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yes great job
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WOW!!
Very cool!!!
The color is great!!
Keep up the good work!!!
Rich
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Good looking taun taun XV!
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haha that is awesome! Great idea, will this be a forced perspective dio? Great job on the Taun Taun!
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Wow, that is an excellent transformation! Nice work XV!
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Damn XV that is some MICRO detailing. I wish I had the steady hands you must have to be able to paint these extremely small figs. I love the taun-taun! it's amazing.
HB needs to make you a sig bar with "expert Micro Customizer".... as far as I'm concerned that's your new title!